Vacation Time
by FreakyFreddy123
Summary: After years of getting his life together, Gideon Grey decides to take some time off from work, and enjoy a much needed vacation. However, after finding a photo album, he realizes that he hadn't fixed everything. Now, Gideon must go out and find his best freind Travis and make amends. However, little does he know that he's going to get more than he bargained for. (TravisXGideon)
1. Vacation Plans

"Yall have a g..good day now!"

Gideon Grey waved a goodbye, as the final customers of the day exited the pie shop with their fresh blueberry pies. As the sound of the bell on the glass door ringed, signaling that the customers had finally left the shop, Gideon took a look at the pie shaped clock that hung above the the door. 6:30 p.m, it read. Gideon let out a much needed sigh of relief, as he wiped the left over flour that was on his paws onto his pink apron.

"Closin Time." Gideon yipped

Taking his apron off, Gideon started to clean up around the place; dusting, sweeping, wiping down the counters, and cleaning the dishes just to name a few. About forty-five minutes later, all was properly cleaned and polished. Ready for the next work day, and ready for new customers to come and enjoy some tasty treats. After locking the door to the bakery, Gideon decided to double check the work area to see if he had missed anything important, or if he needed to have anything freshly stocked. Upon seeing that everything was in check, He smiled and walked over to his office to grab his truck keys and get himself back to his one bedroom home.

Upon entering said office, Gideon grabbed his keys from his desk drawer and was about to leave, when he noticed his calender right next to the door. Being the perfectionist that he was, he took a glance at it. To his surprise, there where seven red lines marked on each day of the next week. Gideon scratched his head for a moment, before the realization finally hit him. It was his yearly week long vacation. He had set it up the day he opened up his bakery to give himself some much needed relaxation time from work.

"Wow!" Gideon said slapping his head with his paw " I'm a..a dummy."

Taking out a marker and paper, Gideon took the time to make a sign telling everyone that the shop would be closed for the next week. After taping it to the entrance of the bakery, Gideon finally made his way out of the bakery through the back door, lock the door, got into his truck, and drove home. A few minutes passed, and soon Gideon was back to his cozy, warm, cottage. The cottage itself wasn't really that big, but for Gideon that wasn't a problem at all. He really enjoyed small places, as well as anything generally simple. He never really cared about being rich, or having a ton of material things. For him, all he cared about was simply the basics in life, and nothing else more. He had learned this from living in his grandfather's ranch for a small portion of his teen-age years.

Turning the nob on the door, Gideon walked inside and turned on the lights to his living room. It was the same old house that he had grown to love and cherish all these years. The traditional brick fireplace, a large bookshelf filled with many books, a small color television with "rabbit ears" on top of them, a red sofa , a circular rug in the middle of the floor, a small coffee table and a wooden rocking chair next to the fireplace. After locking his door firmly, Gideon made his way over towards the kitchen area, and made himself a tall glass of sweet tea with lemon. After taking a sip of his drink, he walked over towards the bookshelf to find himself something to nice to read before he fixed himself dinner and call it a night. He browsed through the multiple rows of books, trying to find something to his fancy, but found nothing really worth reading. He knew that he had to read something, so he placed his paw of a random book and pulled it out. To his surprise, he hadn't pulled out a book at all, but a photo album.

"Huh." Gideon said to himself " Been some time since I..I..looked at this."

Taking a seat on his rocking chair, he opened up the photo album and began looking at some of the pictures. The first few pages of the album had pictures of him as a young little fox, diaper and all, doing some things that typical children at that age tend to do. Gideon giggled at some of the baby pics of him and his parents doing goofy things together, but frowned immediately afterwards. He missed his parents dearly. They had sadly passed away a year back from old age, and their deaths had effected him greatly after that. Not wanting to break down into tears, he quickly flipped the album to the middle of the book. There, he saw something that was very surprising. It was pictures of him with his best friend Travis the ferret posing in different pictures. One picture showed the two of them at a birthday party (apparently Travis's) wearing party hats and smearing chocolate cake all over each other's faces. Another picture was of them sitting next to a booth of some sort sipping lemonade from a straw, and the last picture was of the two of them in a really funny position that he couldn't make out even if he could.

Closing the album, Gideon reminisced over the pictures of him and his best friend, but mostly on his best friend Travis. Travis was his best , and only , friend that he actually had in his youth. This really wasn't that surprising, given the fact he was a rather nasty bully during that time. Travis was a very intelligent, as well as creative, ferret. He was always doing well in school, was very well educated in math, science, and history, and could really make some tasty treats out of a few pantry items if he wanted to. Despite all of these amazing characteristics Travis held, he chose to be best freinds with him, Gideon Grey; the bully, the dummy, the meanest fox in all of Bunny Borrow. Not only that, but the fact that Travis stayed loyal to him, despite acting like a bully to Travis himself, was confusing even to him. Normally, animals would eaither leave in a heartbeat, or beat up that animal, if they where treated like that. However, Travis never left his side, not for a single second. Heck, he even took the fall for some of the things Gideon had done.

Gideon felt a strong feeling of guilt, as well as sadness, rush over him as these thoughts planted itself into his feeble brain. He truly was a horrible freind, and to make matters worse, he never even took the time to apologize for everything he had done to him in the past. He knew that he had to do something about it, and he was going to do that now. Besides, he had all week to make things right.


	2. Mrs Ferris

"BEEP BEEP BEEP BE-!"

A large paw slammed itself down on the buzzing alarm clock, trying to shut the dang thing off. Gideon never really understood why he had bought that annoying thing in the first place. He could've just bought a simple bell alarm clock that wouldn't have gave him a heart attack, but it was what he had, and it did its job.

Gideon groaned as he looked over at the clock that sat on top of his tiny nightstand next to his bed. 6:30, it read

"Well...I guess it's time to get up." Gideon said as he stretched his limbs out and sat up in bed

Upon getting out of his bed, Gideon made his way over towards the bathroom to get himself cleaned up and changed into some normal clothing. After about fifteen minutes, Gideon was awake, clean, and ready for the day that awaited him. He took a breath of fresh air out of his bedroom window (which was always open), and made his way over towards the kitchen for a breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, steak, blueberries, and a tall glass of grapefruit juice. After eating his fill, Gideon went to his fridge, and pulled out two homemade blueberry pies all ready to go. He figured that he could take least say sorry to his best friend, by offering him one of his world famous baked goods. After checking around the house for anything he might need for the day, and seeing that he had what he needed, he made his way over towards the front door, grabbed his truck keys, and made his way over towards his old truck.

Today was going to be one heck of a day for Gideon Grey. For one, he had to try and locate Travis's parents to not only apologize to them as well for being a bad influence on their son, but also to try and find out where his best freind was currently living at. It took him about a few hours of his time, as well as many stops to ask for directions, until he finally arrived at Travis's home. It certainly wasn't the same house that he had visited all those years back, in fact there was nothing that was even remotely familiar. The last time he had visited there was when he was sixteen. The same year he was sent off to live with his grandfather's house for the next couple of years.

Climbing out of the truck door, pie in hand, Gideon made his way up towards the front door of the rather fancy looking home. With his free left paw, he gave the door three swift knocks and took a step back. A few seconds passed, before a female, middle aged, black footed ferret opened up the door.

"Can I help you with something Sir?" The ferret asked politely

"Yes Mam, I...I'm lookin fo...for ." Gideon said holding up the pie

"This is she." replied " Who might you be?"

"Gideon" Gideon replied "Gideon Grey."

Within a moment, the Jill's eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped slightly.

"Gideon? Is that really you?" she asked, her jaw still dropped

"Yes mam, i..it is." Gideon replied with a stutter

" So the rumors weren't true at all." she muttered under her breath

"Beg your pardon?" Gideon asked, confused

"Oh, nothing" replied "Please, do come in."

With that, Gideon made his way inside of the fancy home, and into the living room. To Gideon's surprise, the living room looked rather old country style, which to him was quite nice.

"Take a seat on the couch sweetie, I'll be back with some ice tea in a moment"

Gideon did as he was told, and plopped himself down on the nice, fabric couch. All while admiring the heavy amount of southern artifacts and reble flags that hung from different parts of the ceiling.

"All righty, here we are." She said as she handed Gideon a tall glass of cold iced tea.

"Thank you." Gideon said, taking a sip from the drink

"Now problem Gideon. It's nice to see a familiar face." replied back

A few moments of science passed, before finally breaking the silence and asking a question.

"So, what brings you here?"

Gideon placed the drink down on a coaster, before giving his answer.

"I'm looking for Travis, and I'm here to apologize as well." Gideon said scratching his head

Mrs. Ferris set her tea down on a small table next to her and smiled at Gideon.

"There's no need to apologize sweetie. You where a very young fox, and young animals like yourself do stupid things sometimes. Now, as for Travis, he's in in the richer side of Bunny Borrow. Specifically, in Carrot Town."

"How is he?" Gideon asked concerned

let out a deep sigh.

"Not very well...to say the least. You've been gone for quite some time now, and let me just say that it's been hard for Travis."

" How so?" Gideon asked with concern

She took another long brethren before proceeding.

"Travis always loved having you around, in fact there was never a single day that he wouldn't beg me to let him go and hang out with you. Now, I had never really understood (or even approved) of him hanging out with you. With you being a bad influence and all."

Gideon blushed with a mix of shame and embarrassment, knowing that to be true.

" However, my thoughts on you changed dramatically , especially when that rumor started spreading around Bunny Borrow about you being dead."

Gideon's eyes widened with shock, and his ears dropped at the mention of that statement.

"W...what?" Gideon asked in a freaked out tone

"Yup. Rumor had it, that you has passed away in your sleep. Now, I thought that all of that was hogwash, until the paper came the next day announcing your "death" in the obituaries. Poor Travis just shut down completely after that. He spent about two months in his room bawling his eyes out with no rest. After that, he wasn't the same anymore. He just spent his time studying. He wouldn't go out or anything. Then, when he moved out, I wound up finding something in his room that I think you should see."

She carefully got up from her seat and made her way towards a small drawer and pulled out what looked to be sheets of drawing paper. Upon sitting back down in her seat, she handed Gideon the papers. What Gideon saw, was something. It was series of drawings (well made at that) of both him and Travis together in one scene or another. Some where just simple and fun, while others had more of a romantic kind of feel to it.

"He really loves you Gideon." she said as she looked up at Gideon wother a soft smile.

" I know that may sound weird, but it's the honest truth. He idolized you to the fullest extent, as well as loved you in ways that couldn't even explain if I tried."

Gideon carefully placed the papers on the coffee table. Now he at least had his answer to why Travis never left him. However, this was certainly something new, even to him. It made him feel all the more guilty about how he treated Travis in the past, and now he was really determined to do what he could to try and make amends.

Thanking for the Tea and information that he needed, Gideon ran back to his truck and made his way towards Carrot Town.


	3. Finding Travis

The drive towards Carrot Town was a lot harder to get to, then Gideon had expected. He could easily count the amount of times that he had gotten lost on both his paws. Within a few hours of constant searching, stopping for directions, and dead ends here had finally made it to his destination. The only problem now was, were in the world was Travis was even at?

Deciding that he needed to get out of his car and stretch his legs out, Gideon took a turn on Blueberry Road and pulled up into a gas station. Turning his car engine off, Gideon opened up his car door, hopped out, and stretched his legs.

"Ahhh, that's it." Gideon grunted as small pops could be heard from his hind legs.

Finally getting all that out of the way, Gideon looked down at his watch, 12;30 it read. Just as he had looked at his watch, did a very familiar grumbling sound erupted from his tummy. This was really surprising for Gideon, since he had eaten at relatively big breakfast at home. Then again, he did wake up at the crack of dawn, so maybe it wouldn't be much of a problem to just go inside the gas station and get something to eat. Making his decision, he went back to his truck, checked on the special velvet case that held Travis's pie, and locked his truck up for safe measures.

Upon taking a good look at the place, he was quite surprised at how "futuristic" it looked. The outside of the building looked as if was made entirely of silver chrome, the place also had a large, silver ring-like structure that wrapped around the building like the plant Saturn with the words "Gas of the Future" etched into the middle of the ring. Upon entering the gas station, Gideon was less than surprised at what he saw. It looked like a typical gas station interior; small register stand with two electronic cash registers being occupied by a pair of less-then-happy teenage Tigers, small rows of shelves that contained a heavy amount of sweets and junk food, and stained checkered flooring that look like it hadn't been cleaned in weeks.

"W..Well this is g...gross." Gideon said with a slightly disgusted look on his face

Looking through the countless rows of sugar and salt packed snacks that lined the isles, Gideon grimaced at how few "good" food was actually here. Heck, there wasn't even a fruit stand around. Now, Gideon wasn't the most heath conscious fox around (with the exception of when he was in his bakery that is ) but even he knew that most of this stuff that was on these racks were nothing but "garbage for your gut". The only sensible option, was a few bags of jerky, but they were rather expensive. He knew for a fact that he didn't want to get any chubbier that he already was ( tasting pies all the time can do that to a fox), and he didn't want to waste any more time of his day searching for a better option, so he just grabbed a bag of jerky and headed up to the counter to make his purchase. While the clerk was scanning the snack that he had picked out, he decided to ask the cashier a question.

"Uh, m...mam. Can I ask you something?." Gideon asked politely

The tiger cashier immediately shot her head up and said in a menacing tone

"Did you just assume my gender?!"

Gideon immediately stepped back in fear after that.

"I'm s...so sorry, I didn't mean to...offend y..you" Gideon said apologetically

He was immediately metwith the sound of giggling coming from the same cashier that had given him that stern response.

" It's fine, I was just kidding around with you." The cashier said giggling " So, what's your question?"

Gideon stepped forward and pulled out some cash to pay for the jerky.

"W...well..uh. You d..don't happen to k..know who Travis Ferris i..is, do you?" Gideon asked as he grabbed the small plastic bag containing his snack.

The female tiger's ears immediately stood up as she heard those words.

" Travis? You mean the Travis F. Ferris?" She asked

"Yes mam." Gideon responded

" Well, your in luck. I happen to have his card in my wallet. You can have it if you want."

Gideon gratefully thanked the Tigress for the card, and as he made his way for the doors, he heard the tigress say to him.

"Tell Travis that Debbie sent you!"

Gideon thanked the tigress once more, before making his way back to his truck and climbing in. After eating his jerky, Gideon cranked up his truck and looked at the card that was giving to him. "Travis Ferris, your one stop shop for an easy Video Editing, Computer Repair, and software creating experience 1167 Kit St Carrot Town 11342." the card read in gold text. Finally memorizing the address, Gideon made his way towards the place, which was actually less than a mile away from the gas station.

" Well, that was f...fast" Gideon said pulling up to a large gated fence that separated himself from the lage, luxurious home that was less than a hundred feet away from him.

Upon reaching the gate, he was met with a large red button that simple said

"Press for Entry"

Pressing it, the gate slowly opened up to a curvy looking driveway that was surrounded by a lush green bed of grass. Trying not to run over the perfect grass with is truck, Gideon immediately parked himself next to the concrete walkway that led to the front door. After retrieving the pie from the velvet material, and locking up his truck, Gideon slowly made his way towards the front door, nervousness building up inside of him like blueberries in a pie crust. Finally reaching the door, he gave a few loud knocks.

"Come in!" A voice from the inside of the house called out

With his free paw, Gideon carefully opened the door, walked in, and the shut the door behind him.

"I'll meet you in the kitchen, just give me a minute!" The disembodied voice called out once again

Gideon did as he was told, and made his way into the kitchen without a word being said. Entering the kitchen, which looked very clean and polished, he felt the nervous feeling grow more and more with each passing moment. What if Travis didn't recognize him anymore? What if he hated him for leaving him all those years back? Or worst of all, what If it wasn't Travis at all, and he had just walked in someone's house? Not moving an inch from where he stood, he waited for the voice to finally reveal itself to him.

"Alrighty now" a black footed ferret said as he walked into the kitchen with a glass of water in his left paw " Let's see what's going on with your..."

The ferret looked up at the fox that was standing in his kitchen, a look of shock and surprise overtaking his face. Gideon smiled and said

"Hi T..Travis."

The ferret's eyes widened when he heard his name being said to him. Travis carefully observed the fox, and his jaw dropped as he recognized the face and specific hair style that only one fox that he knew of had.

"G...Gideon?" Travis said taking a step further to examine the fox a bit more.

"Hey there o...old buddy. H..How i..is it g..going?" Gideon said with a warm smile on his face

"Is that really...no, it's not possible! Your supposed to be dead? The papers said that you...died.."

"Don't tell me what I already know Travis." Gideon replied

Those words hit Travis like a brick to the face. No one , other than Gideon Grey himself, said that. Theven shock from the words that he heard were so intense, that he wound up dropping the glass of water on the ground, causing it to shatter. Tears began to form in Travis's eyes as he made his way closers to Gideon.

"Is it really you?" Travis asked as hot tears started to flow down his face, as the realization that his best freind wasn't dead at all came to him.

Gideon placed the pie down on the kitchen counter, and then walked over towards the teary eyed Ferret, and wrapped his arms around Travis in a soft, but loving embrace. Travis gasped, as the side of his face came in contact with Gideon's chest. He could hear the soft thumping of Gideon's heartbeat, which only fueled the fire of evidence, that Gideon wasn't dead.

"It's me Travis" Gideon said , now caressing the ferret in his arms "I'm right here for yo."

That was it, there was no holding back now. Travis shook, and then started bawling his eyes out. Tears streamed down his face hard, as he wrapped his arms around Gideon. He then began to nuzzle his head into Gideon's chest, as the fox ran his paw up and down down the ferret's back.


	4. Apologies, Pies, and Alcohol

"Shhhhh, just c...calm yourself d..down." Gideon said as he continued to rub the sobbing ferret's back.

Travis continued to nuzzle himself into Gideon's chest as he let out sob after sob. The soft fur on Gideon's exposed chest soothed and comforted him like a small child in it's mother's grasp. After a few minutes of crying , Travis finally started to calm himself down. He carefully, albeit hesitantly, took his face out of Gideon's chest and looked up at the fox who was caressing him. He fully expected his face to look weirded out, or angry, but that wasnt the case at all. Gideon had a warm smile plastered on his face, which calmed ferret down even more than ever.

"F...Felling better n...now?" Gideon said, his smile not fading for even a moment

"I think so." Travis replied in a soft, smooth voice

"T..that's good." Gideon said picking up the ferret and placing him back on his hind legs

Travis grabbed some tissues from his left slack pocket, and blew his nose.

"I'm sorry for breaking down like that Gideon." Travis said humbly

Gideon placed a paw on Travis's shoulder and said

"N...not a p..problem. H..honestly if somethin l..like that happened t...to me, I'd be d..doin much worse than t...that."

"Thank you." Travis said, blowing his nose once more.

"So, what brings you here to Carrot Town?" Travis asked cheerfully

Gideon's smile faltered for a moment, before his demeanor became completely serious.

"I...I came here to a...apologize to you." Gideon said flatly

Travis looked at Gideon for a moment in surprise.

"Apologize? What for?" Travis asked scratching his head

Gideon took a deep breath.

"For all the times that I b...bullied you." Gideon began " F...for being a bad influence on y...you all those y...years back."

Gideon bit his lip, trying not to cry himself.

"All the times that I...I got you into t...trouble. F..for leaving you a..all those years back a...and not tellin you ."

Gideon fought the tears that where starting to format in his eyes.

"And e...everything else I...I did."

Gideon then grabbed the blueberry pie that he had set on the counter a few minutes back, and held it in his arms like a baby.

" I..I know that a pie i...isn't enough to m...make up for what I did, but if you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I'd be very greatfull."

Gideon ended his little speech with that. He then looked over at Travis, who had a huge grin on his face. Without a single word, Travis lunged at Gideon and gave him the biggest hug he could give. Gideon hugged back while Travis whispered in his ear.

"All is forgiven."

After the hug, Travis immediately went into his kitchen area and motioned for Gideon to follow him. Gideon did as he was told, and walked into the kitchen to find Travis rummaging around a small wine chiller. A few seconds passed, before Travis pulled out a large bottle of champagne.

"What's the o...occasion?" Gideon asked

"I got my best friend back." Travis said as he popped the cork off the bottle causing foam to pour onto the floor.

Gideon couldn't help but smile at that statement. He was the presented a glass full of champagne. Now, he had never really drank before in his life, so it was a new experience for him. Taking the drink, he took a sip and immediately fell in love. It tasted just like soda pop, just with a bigger kick.

-6 Hours Later-

Both Travis and Gideon enjoyed themselves for the first time in a long time. They ate pie, they drank a ton of champagne, and they just spent time talking with one another about each other's jobs. Gideon was certainly amazed at how wealthy Travis had become, and he didn't even go to collage. He managed to start his own business just by messing around with some computers, and soon he became the tech wizard he was now. Now, the two of them where just sitting on the couch, watching TV and enjoying each other's company. That is, until late Gideon's watch started beeping.

"I got this." Gideon said, his voice slurred

One thing that Travis had found out about Gideon, was that he had a very low tolerance for alcohol. Which was surprisingly good to him, because the champagne that the two where drinking barely had any alcohol at all.

"I gotta go." Gideon said as he stumbled to the front door.

Travis immediately felt red flags going up in his brain. He knew that Gideon wasn't fit for driving in this state.

"Hey buddy, i'd rather you not drive tonight." Travis said, as he pulled out his phone

"I've g..got this." Gideon said as he pulled out his truck keys from his front overall pocket.

"No, no, no Gideon." Travis began " You too drunk, at least let me get you a CUGER"

Gideon didn't bother stopping or answering Travis response. This caused Travis to become really worried. This only further elevated, when Gideon reached the door. He was just about to open it, when Travis came running, and slammed the door shut.

"T..Travis what are you doin?" Gideon asked, his breath reaking with the scent of alcohol

"I'm not letting you leave like this." Travis said nervously

"I got a h..home I got to get to." Gideon said, his speech still slurred.

"It's not a good idea to drive Gideon." Travis said flatly

"Travis, g...get out of the w..way. I'll be fine."

Travis was now starting to lose his patience with the drunk fox. He held himself firmly against the door, keeping it shut.

"No." Travis said firmly

"Get out of the way, I can take care of my..."

Gideon was immediately cut off by Travis spinning him at a 180 degree angle and pinned him to the door. The look on Travis's face alone sobered him up really quickly. Travis held on to Gideon for dear life, as a small scowl formed on his face. He stared up at Gideon.

"Your not going anywhere Gideon." Travis said firmly, with a touch of anger in his voice as well.

"I told you Travis, I'll be fine." Gideon protested " Now let me.."

"DAMN IT GIDEON, I AM NOT GOING TO LOOSE YOU AGAIN!"

Gideon fell silent as he looked at his best friend's face. His face was filled with disappointment, anger, and fear. Hot tears where beginning to fall from Travis's face as. His lips trembled.

"Six years." Travis began " Six years I spent bawling my eyes out thinking that you where dead, six years of severe depression, six years of suicidal thoughts, and six years of lonlieness! You finally come back into to my life, only for me to risk loosing you again?

More tears flowed down the ferret's eyes as he slowly loosened his grip.

"Please don't do this Gideon. Don't go. I don't want to lose you."

Travis buried his head , once again into Gideon's chest, bawling more and more as he held on to Gideon for dear life. Gideon felt a heavy feeling of guilt build up in him, as he looked down at the sobbing ferret. Travis was right, he didn't need to drive at all. Gideon hugged the ferret back, and said

"I'm sorry Travis. I'm a selfish dummy to m...make you worry like t...that. I'm gonna stay here for the n...night."

Travis looked up at Gideon with a teary eyed smile. He grabbed Gideon by the paw, and led him to a separate bedroom. Upon opening the door to the room, Gideon pulled out his keys and placed them in Travis's paws.

" H...hold on to these for me, p...please. I don't wanna get t...tempted any time s...soon."

Travis accepted the keys, said goodnight, and closed the door to Gideon's room. Gideon, now exhausted, plopped himself on the soft bed and fell into a deep sleep.


End file.
